Discussions

The following was posted on the BYSA Facebook page today. You can access additional details @ westmansoccer.ca.  
I for one find this extremely disappointing. My children love soccer. What does this mean for the future of youth soccer in Brandon???  
 
 
BRANDON—July 10, 2018—The Westman Regional Soccer Association (WRSA) has officially declared the Brandon Youth Soccer Association (BYSA) a “member not in good standing.”  
 
As such, BYSA is now a non-sanctioned entity and is no longer eligible to receive any services from WRSA, and all current services being utilized will cease immediately. All BYSA teams, players and coaches are barred from competing in any sanctioned leagues, tournaments or competitions, regardless of when they registered or if the league or competitionhas already begun. As a non-sanctioned entity, WRSA cannot say that BYSA is insured with MSA/Sport Manitoba.  
 
It is with great disappointment WRSA had to take this step once again with this association, but it was not receiving the support required from BYSA to successfully run youth soccer programming in the region.

well my 2 children played there, and I'm not suprised! Not impressed with the BYSA, as many many other parents are in the same boat.

I myself signed my children up for one year and the communication and organization was terrible. I would never try it again and from what I’ve heard from other parents it hadn’t improved.

http://westmansoccer.ca/files/2018_press_release_july_92.pdf

Was glad I chose galaxy soccer this year. Was great. Unfortunately my son is only eligible for 1 more year. Are there any other options other than BYSA? Haven't heard anything positive about BYSA in 2 years now.

Would love to hear some feedback from BYSA about this...  
 
Moving forward, what are the key issues, and what can be done to resolve these?

i imagine that more support from the parents would aid the organizers greatly . i dont expect that the rewards are monetary for the bysa group.

Sounds like BYSA needs a shakeup..

Someone didn''t know what they were doing in the BYSA office. It''s a shame cause it''s the kids that will lose out in the end. They need a board of directors who know the rules and how to run such an entity. I hope for the kids sake BYSA gets their heads out of their butts and fixes this.  
 
Parents helping is not an issue. The parents can't run the office. That position needs to be done by someone who has worked with board of directors and needs to be full time as to avoid penalties.  
 
Edited by Newfie101, 2018-07-11 17:06:59

Who does one contact to get fees for this summer returned?  
 
Edited by CheapTrickz, 2018-07-11 20:37:52

Newfie101 said "Someone didn''t know what they were doing in the BYSA office. It''s a shame cause it''s the kids that will lose out in the end. They need a board of directors who know the rules and how to run such an entity. I hope for the kids sake BYSA gets their heads out of their butts and fixes this.     Parents helping is not an issue. The parents can't run the office. That position needs to be done by someone who has worked with board of directors and needs to be full time as to avoid penalties.     Edited by Newfie101, 2018-07-11 17:06:59"

I agree, I think a shakeup of the board of directors is needed to get bysa back on track and in good standing. It's kind of embarrassing that this is our cities only real soccer league(for ages 7+) and we are in bad standing.  
 
Edited by Cjford, 2018-07-12 08:33:00

From an outsiders perspective, I find this kind of funny. Also, this should be pretty embarrassing for Brandon. Where is the accountability? Is this a paid position for the organization? If so, waaayy more embarrassing - will that person ever get a job again? I would be so embarrassed if my child played in this organization or if I was apart of the board.

Get over yourself Viv. Why should any of us parents be “so embarrassed” for having our kids involved in soccer? Do you assume all parents of kids in BYSA soccer knew what was going on behind closed doors? We knew that there was issues with BYSA yes....but to be “so embarrassed” is a little bit of an overkill.

I love how everyone points fingers and negatively comments on how awful things are run around here. So much negativity in this town. So, much potential is organizations would work with each other on the same goals. It's amazing how Manitoba ever associated 'friendly' to its tagline.....Not too friendly, maybe superficial at best.

Being involved with youth sports boards I think most, not all, are in it for the wrong reasons. They have their own motives. My son played Galaxy Soccer and this year in the new Prairie Football League. I believe BOTH are successful because they are run by parents who want to make the sport fun for the KIDS. They don't have board members to answer to and argue with. They run it because they have both been involved with youth sports over the years and realize it is the Boards that hold sports back. They are run privately and that is the difference. Take out all the politics in sports and have it where you have kids that come and play a well run, know when and where you are going and parents that can just come and watch them do so and you get Galaxy and PFL. So thank you to both for stepping off the grid and looking out for who matters the most.

MUAH said "Being involved with youth sports boards I think most, not all, are in it for the wrong reasons. They have their own motives. My son played Galaxy Soccer and this year in the new Prairie Football League. I believe BOTH are successful because they are run by parents who want to make the sport fun for the KIDS. They don't have board members to answer to and argue with. They run it because they have both been involved with youth sports over the years and realize it is the Boards that hold sports back. They are run privately and that is the difference. Take out all the politics in sports and have it where you have kids that come and play a well run, know when and where you are going and parents that can just come and watch them do so and you get Galaxy and PFL. So thank you to both for stepping off the grid and looking out for who matters the most. "

Unfortunately, when I say someone in the BYSA office, I meant the whole group including board of directors. If people dont understand what matter most, ( the kids in this case) they tend to play politics. There is no need. Yes it is embarrassing for Brandon to have this in its community, but it's not the parents fault. From someone who has been a part of the organization when my child played, the parents have no clue what is going on in the office. They went through about a dozen office personal in the past few years, if not more. I think it should be run the parents of the children playing, however not all parents can help. At the end of the day, the kids will lose, Brandon will be left asking what happened ( but will never get the answer) people will be out money and the association will charge more for enrollment to cover their mistakes. No one will take responsibility for this and its unfortunate. How do we fix it. Lots of parents were asking questions this past season and not one got answers.  
 
How do we as a community fix this so that our kids can play soccer without breaking the bank to do so? (ps... my son is no longer of age to play) I'm asking for all kids who enjoy the sport and want to play.  
 
Maybe as a community we can all work together to sort it out. Is there someone who can contact the main organization and find out what need to be done, if anything?

Link to Brandon sun article:  
https://www.brandonsun.com/sports/local/wrsa-comes-down-hard-on-bysa-487965361.html  
 
From the article- A session will be held on Monday, July 23 at 7 p.m. in Theatre A of the Brodie Building at Brandon University. It will i:nclude a question-and-answer period so WRSA can hear from Brandon members.

Exactbeing said "I love how everyone points fingers and negatively comments on how awful things are run around here. So much negativity in this town. So, much potential is organizations would work with each other on the same goals. It's amazing how Manitoba ever associated 'friendly' to its tagline.....Not too friendly, maybe superficial at best. "

You don't hear about these issues issues with other organizations or sports. At best you get posts about hockey parents being over the top.  
 
This is a whole different issue where things are being poorly run from the top of the chain for at least a second consecutive year.  
 
If people were complaining about every sport and organization I might understand what your saying about pointing fingers and being negative but it's just BYSA that is the problem, AGAIN.  
 
Galaxy soccer was run fantastic never was there confusion, if there was any type of announcements everyone was kept informed via Twitter as promised at start of year. I wish galaxy would extend the age limit of the league, they did a great job.

People are always finding fault in all areas of sports. I guess its easier to just sit back and criticize then to actually get up and make a difference.

are hard to come by in youth sports now. I have volunteered in every single sport our kids play and it is the same people over and over. But if you are trying and the board isn't listening or not taking steps to improve, you stop. Honestly who wants to deal with the parents who are upset and have a right to be but probably haven't raised a finger to help it out in any way. It is in every sport regardless if you as a parent know it or not. Some are just better at hiding it. But soccer is also one of the biggest organizations in Brandon so tend to have more vocal parents. But until things change you won't have the volunteers willing to put up with it. Most want to pay and not do anything. Gone are the days volunteering was just the natural thing to do to keep sports running.

At the beginning of May, I contacted BYSA, and spoke with Margaret Ireland, Executive Director, about planning a wind up for the U4-U6 age group. Margaret indicated to me that BYSA would pay for the cost of the food for the wind up and she would purchase the same if I planned the rest of the wind up.  
 
On June 14, 2018, BYSA held a special meeting of the Members. At that meeting, they requested that we vote to get rid of our Constitution (which is what governs the organization) and that they would have a draft replacement in November. The Members present disagreed. At that point we were advised that if we didn’t get rid of the Constitution that night, we were unable to proceed with the rest of the motions because they wanted us to vote to not be affiliated with MSA (and therefore WRSA).  
 
Margaret and Sylvain (the President) presented only partial financials to the Members present and tried to tell us that the organization was going to go bankrupt if we stayed with WRSA. They failed to provide us financials on things like sponsorships, Margaret’s salary, and rent.  
 
It was voted and decided that the meeting would be adjourned for BYSA to circulate to the Members full financial statements, the Constitution and Bylaws. It was also voted that WRSA would be invited to participate in the next meeting.  
 
On June 18th, I was advised BYSA was no longer funding the food for the wind up (scheduled for June 24th) after an “Executive Meeting” was held the previous day. I was blamed for not taking my request for funding to the Board by Sylvain. This “Executive Meeting” did not i:nclude the Vice Chair. After pushing back, I received funding for the wind up.  
 
On June 29th, I made a formal request for all minutes of BYSA from September 2017 to date. As a member, I am entitled to these minutes pursuant to The Corporations Act. I was advised this morning that a vote was held with the Executive Committee and it passed 2-1 that they would not be providing me with the minutes.  
 
On July 10th, BYSA was declared a “member not in good standing” for the second time this year by WRSA. Concerns raised i:nclude the Executive not following the Constitution and Bylaws and overruling motions made by the Board as a whole.  
 
I have had many discussions with some of the Board Members of BYSA and the President of WRSA. It is clear to me that the current Board is dysfunctional at best, but most likely harming the organization to the point where BYSA may not exist very soon.  
 
My understanding is that BYSA does not intend to hold the next special meeting until September. Given WRSA’s press release, something needs to be done before then.  
 
As such, I am a calling for a Special Meeting to be held in July for the purposes of bringing forward a vote to remove all the current board members and replace them with new board members. Pursuant to the Constitution, I need signatures from 100 members to call for this meeting. Petitions will be available to sign at the following locations:  
1. Myphone – Telus - Unit C 1417 Rosser Avenue  
2. Patersons Law Office – Unit 8 940 Princess Avenue  
3. Hair Today Mall Barbers – Brandon Shoppers Mall  
 
Lisa Rowley and I are also willing to meet with you if you are unable to come to one of the above locations.

anyone going to the meeting tonight?

My better half and I are going tonight

If all you soccer parents wants answers concerning WRSA you all might want to come tonight. 7pm Brandon university Brodie room